It still boggles my mind that fine line and wrinkle treatment, using botulinum toxin, can be so effective! More so, it amazes me that over the decades that I have been offering this treatment, more uses keep emerging. From helping depression to boosting skin health, the treatment options available to my patients keeps on growing!
However, the downside can be having to return multiple times a year, which isn’t great if you don’t like needles! So here are some top tips to help you extend the time between your visits…
Making sure your doctor/dentist/nurse practitioner is experienced will go a long way to ensuring you get the right areas treated appropriately. Some patients are regularly recalled by their injector to get ‘top ups’ but, in my opinion, this shouldn’t be necessary, unless it’s the first time you have been treated by the person.
Of course, your body isn’t always predictable, so occasionally you may require adjustments to your fine line and wrinkle treatment after a few weeks. Having regular ‘top ups’ will make Botox® less effective for you, so it’s important to avoid them if you can.
Consider not using face scrubs, masks or toners one week before your treatment. These can alter the chemistry of your skin by causing inflammation, which may result in your fine line and wrinkle treatment being less effective.
Ask your injector about other brands that might work for you. After many decades, new botulinum brands have now been developed, each with their own characteristics and benefits. This means that, if your regular treatment with the Botox® brand isn’t working as well as you’d like, your injector now has other brands they can try to see if they give you better fine line and wrinkle treatment results that last longer.
Any experienced doctor/dentist /nurse will be able to discuss the alternative brands that are available and give their advice on whether they may be helpful to you.
In a study by Koshy JC et al. (Journal of Drugs and Dermatol 2012 Apr;11(4):507-12), researchers found that zinc and/or phytase supplementation boosted the effects of botulinum treatments by 30% on average.
‘Surprisingly, the results showed that in over ninety percent of the patients studied, the zinc/phytase combination resulted in a remarkable improved responsiveness to treatment of blepharospasm using the same amount of botulinum toxin as previously used’, said Soparkar, M.D., Ph.D., an oculoplastic surgeon. ‘The toxins seemed to have a greater effect and last longer. Potentially, this could mean using less toxin, offering patients financial savings, greater safety, and more consistent results.’
Remember that this requires some planning, as studies have shown that you have to start zinc supplements 4 days prior to treatment for them to have any effect!
Now you know my top tips to get the best results from your fine line and wrinkle treatment, it’s time for you to get yourself booked in! You can do so quickly and easily on our website. You can also find all of our contact details on this page in case there are any questions that you would like to ask.
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There’s no doubt that injectables like fillers and Botox® are the most effective line-reducing treatments available. Others might help to some extent but they will never achieve what injectables can. Furthermore, these treatments, in the right hands, are very safe and almost painless. The proof is in the sheer number of people who have been treated worldwide! Allergan reports that, as a brand leader in the field of dermal fillers, they recently achieved a major milestone for their key brand Juvéderm with ‘100 million syringes of their product delivered globally’. Isn’t that incredible?
Some of you might be reluctant to try injectables for various reasons. You might feel scared about ‘losing’ your expressions or you’re worried that you won’t look natural and that others will know you’ve visited a clinic… or are you just scared in general?
Rest assured, safety is my top priority when treating my patients. I like to see myself and my team as ‘gatekeepers’.
Gatekeepers, like us, keep you safe and won't recommend a treatment that's not in your best interest, so there’s no danger of you looking ‘overdone’. If a treatment isn’t right for you, we’ll say so! It’s not just about the look though, we also make sure that you’re in the right headspace. The only reason to undergo any of our procedures is because you want to. Don’t ever forget that! Accountable to our registered bodies (the GDC and HIS), we have to act within clear clinical and safety guidelines or risk getting struck off.
In order to be a gatekeeper, you must be properly trained. I have a Level 7 postgraduate OFQUAL qualification in injectables and I’ve been a dentist for years! What’s more, at No. 4, we have fantastic knowledge and experience - Su and I have over 60 years of clinical experience combined (we know, we don’t look old enough)!
The most important thing when choosing your clinic is to make sure the practitioners are fully qualified. The experience never hurts too though!
You should always expect the best!
Good gatekeepers will always give you all your options and give you time to make your decision as to whether to have treatment or not. We’re not saleswomen, we’re beauty practitioners! We will always conduct a thorough consultation and get to know you first. If injectables don’t suit your medical profile, lifestyle or expectations, we will let you know. After all, we don’t just deal with treatments, we deal with people.
It’s also important that you know you will receive good aftercare. You shouldn’t have your treatment and get kicked straight out of the door! You need to know how to best maintain your results. We’re always on hand to offer advice on which products will suit your skin and my team always want to ensure that you’re happy with your results. In short, you won’t get away from us that quickly…
If you want to get rid of lines and wrinkles, injectables are the best way to do so, but only when you're being treated by experienced, caring professionals.
The first thing to do is book in for your consultation, you can do this easily online. If you’re not quite ready for that, it may be helpful to get to know our clinic better, you can learn more about us on our website or by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
Did you know that the Botulinum toxin molecule (BoNT) is capable of much more than wrinkle reduction? Botulinum toxin injections are often referred to as Botox®, which is actually a registered trademark of Allergan Inc., a global pharmaceutical company.
Botulinum toxin itself is a purified substance derived from bacteria that has been used for decades to block nerve signals to the affected muscles in which it is injected. The result? Softened lines and wrinkles, and much happier individuals. More recently, Botulinum toxin has also been proven to help those who suffer with hyperhidrosis too. But it doesn’t end there...
Over the years, we have been so much in awe of its muscle-relaxing properties that we seem to have ignored many of Botulinum toxin’s other useful applications. Botulinum toxin is one of the most significant advances in dermatology the world has ever seen, and believe it or not, it was simply a happy accident.
Jean Carruthers, a relatively unknown ophthalmologist from Vancouver, Canada, was injecting her patients with BoNT to control their eye spasms, but when several of these people reported a reduction in their frown lines, she started to suspect she had discovered something revolutionary. The effects were so dramatic that she decided to treat herself, and she was blown away by the results!
Needless to say, back in 1987, Jean had no idea that her accidental discovery would result in millions of people feeling happier and more confident, even in 2022! Women in particular have benefited from Botox® treatments over the years, mainly due to the fact that their faces age differently to men’s. Female faces lose volume and structure much quicker, often making their faces appear sullen or angry, which means Botox® treatments are more effective over time. This is not to say that men do not get Botox®, they just tend to find it a necessity much later on in life. You can find out more about Jean Carruthers and her discovery here - happy reading!
Many people don’t know that BoNT can attach itself to almost any cell in your body and change how that cell works. Yes, really! As a result, it can do much more than just relax the muscles. Those in the aesthetics industry don’t simply tell their customers this to entice them, it has been scientifically proven to be the case. This is incredibly important because what happens at a cellular level allows us to understand the other uses of the BoNT molecule.
Do you want to keep your skin looking plump and youthful? Then Botulinum toxin might just be what you need. The BoNT molecule has been found to prevent collagen from breaking down, but the best news is that it actually helps your body to produce more. It’s something I see a lot in my practice, the patients who have Botox® on a regular basis have a glow about them. I call it ‘the BoNT glow’, now we know why!
There’s much more to this magical molecule too. BoNT has even proven to be effective when used for non-surgical facelifts in very diluted concentrations. Low levels of Botulinum toxin can be used at several different points across the entire face, causing the skin to shrink and tighten. Although we have been aware of this effect for a while, it has only been confirmed recently that Botulinum toxin can be used in this way to deliver spectacular results.
Two other unexpected conditions that can be treated with Botulinum toxin are acne and rosacea. In those with acne, the BoNT molecule is able to attach itself to the sebaceous glands, rendering them sluggish and unable to produce as much sebum as they normally do. This leads to smaller pores and a significant reduction in acne. We’re not yet sure as to how or why the BoNT molecule is able to treat rosacea, but it reduces the severity of facial flushing, which is welcome news for rosacea sufferers who may not have responded well to other treatment methods.
Personally, I have never treated my patients by focusing on their lines and wrinkles as singular features. I consider their faces as a whole and how I can help them to look their best, which is what any good aesthetician should do. I have used Botulinum toxin to treat those who suffer from a range of concerns. My patients have told me that following their treatments, they feel happier and more confident and you could be one of them too!
My name is Dr. Nichola Maasdorp and I’m a dentist with over 26 years of clinical experience, many of which I have spent specialising in medical aesthetics and skincare. My true passion is helping my patients feel amazing and this is often possible with the use of Botulinum toxin.
You can visit me, or a member of my team, at my clinic by filling out a form on our website, calling us on 07595221484 or emailing [email protected] today.
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See you soon!
